


Maybe We're Loyal

by Alexandria (heartfullofelves)



Category: Marco Polo (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Betrayal, F/F, Sex Toys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-09-27 12:04:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17161673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartfullofelves/pseuds/Alexandria
Summary: Mei Lin has orders to assassinate Empress Chabi. She can’t go through with it.





	Maybe We're Loyal

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ConvenientAlias](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ConvenientAlias/gifts).



> I came across your Femslash Exchange letter and was inspired. Happy New Year!

The note seemed to burn in Mei Lin’s fist. She clenched her fist even tighter and hurried back to the harem. Earlier, for a brief moment, she had been delighted to see Jing Fei, having missed her dear friend these past few months, but that delight had turned to dread when Jing Fei had mentioned Sidao’s name. That dread had soon proven to be rational.

She could not do what her brother asked. It would mean certain death for herself, and she could not bear to see her daughter orphaned. She fought in self-defence, not to kill someone in cold blood. She was no assassin.

Her private quarters in the Khan’s palace were just as she had left them. Empress Chabi had arranged this room so that she had easy access to Mei Lin but the Khan did not. After that first night when Chabi had instructed Mei Lin on how to please the Khan, she had requested Mei Lin’s presence in her bed again, and over the next few months they had shared secrets when they were in bed together. Mei Lin had not revealed her brother’s identity, of course, or her true purpose in Cambulac, but she had spoken of her daughter. She knew that Chabi was concerned about her son and the line of succession to the Mongol throne. Empress Chabi and Mei Lin were no longer rivals for the Khan’s attention; Mei Lin had said so herself, even if Chabi did not believe her.

Now she opened her jewellery box and buried Sidao’s note and the vial of poison underneath her rings and metal chains, gifts from the Khan and his Empress. She slammed the lid of the box. The message was not out of sight, out of mind, but she needed time to devise a plan. And time was something she did not have – she was expecting Chabi tonight, and one did not refuse a visit from the Empress.

Putting her fears to the side, Mei Lin poured water into her washbowl and cleaned herself, starting with her treacherous face and ending with her manicured feet. Washing her body and applying perfume calmed her down. While her horrible task did not leave her thoughts, memories of Chabi’s smooth and warm body moving against her own were just as loud.

When the knock on the door came, she jumped. She took a deep breath to try and slow down her heartrate; concubines like her were composed and collected, not startled by sudden noises.

The doors opened and Empress Chabi entered, wearing a customary robe of deep red. She always wore red on these visits. The doors closed behind her.

Mei Lin bowed. “Good evening, my lady.”

Chabi nodded her head in acknowledgement of the greeting, then stepped closer, until she was close enough to touch Mei Lin. “I brought a gift,” she said, tracing Mei Lin’s jaw with one finger.

Mei Lin blinked, unable to hide that minute expression of surprise. “You honour me, Empress. I am most grateful.”

Smiling at that, Chabi revealed a double phallus made of marble, a device that allowed two women to achieve pleasure together. “I had this made especially for you,” she murmured. “It’s Chinese – do you know its kind?”

Mei Lin met Chabi’s gaze. “I have used one before, my lady.”

“Very well.” Chabi wore a self-satisfied smile. “You may teach me how it functions.”

After nodding her assent, Mei Lin reached out to undo Chabi’s belt, letting the robe fly open and expose Chabi’s body. Mei Lin gave the Empress an appreciative and lingering look, then strolled over to the bed and held out a hand in invitation. Chabi took it.

As experienced as Mei Lin was, this was the first time she had ever had to teach Chabi something in bed, rather than the other way around, and she savoured Chabi’s laboured breaths and quiet gasps she could not supress. It struck Mei Lin then that Chabi was beautiful, and that she was unlike anyone Mei Lin had ever met. Remembering her assignment, she covered up a sob by turning it into a moan as their bodies slid together, united by the device.

If Mei Lin’s embrace were tighter than usual as they fucked, Chabi did not seem to mind.

* * *

They never slept together. Whosever bed they were in, the other always left when the hour grew late enough. That suited Mei Lin, who, as a concubine, was not accustomed to sleeping or waking up next to those she bedded. Although she and Chabi knew each other by now, sleeping together would be far too intimate, and not appropriate given their respective positions.

So Mei Lin gasped when she awoke in the morning and Chabi was standing at the other end of the room. “Empress?” she said, sitting up. “You’re still here?”

Chabi whipped around and fixed Mei Lin with a steady glare. “This message was far too easy for me to find.” She held up Sidao’s note. “So are you a stupid assassin or an unwilling one?” Mei Lin had received harsh words from Chabi before, but this was different; Chabi’s voice was like ice.

Both heat and cold ran through Mei Lin’s body. She fell to her knees. “Unwilling,” she sobbed, unable to face Chabi’s anger. Long, thick hair fell in her face, and her chest hurt as she fought not to weep.

“I thought as much,” said Chabi, taking the note and holding it over a lit candle on Mei Lin’s table. The edges of the paper caught fire and burned. “You deceive, but you are not stupid.” She dropped the destroyed paper on the floor, where the fire burned out. The paper crumpled into a blackened mess.

“Empress,” whispered Mei Lin, “I never meant to deceive you. My brother forced my hand. My daughter-”

“Who is your brother?”

Mei Lin winced. She could not bring herself to lie now. “Jia Sidao,” she said, speaking to the floor.

For a long moment, there was a silence that Mei Lin did not want to end. But then Chabi said, “You are the sister of our great enemy.”

Unable to stop herself, Mei Lin wept. Away from home and her daughter, commanded by her madman brother, and with the woman she was meant to kill the closest thing she had to a friend in this place, she had never felt more helpless. Tears stung her cheeks.

“Yet you must have known I could easily discover that note. Did you want me to find it?” Chabi crossed the room to tower over Mei Lin’s bowed form.

Staring at Chabi’s feet, Mei Lin considered the question with horror. Instead of destroying the note, she had hidden it in her room, where anyone with access could have found it. She had been too distressed to be cunning, and not just for her daughter’s sake or that of her own. It was because she could not bring herself to kill Chabi.

There was only one answer she could give: “Yes.”

Chabi pulled Mei Lin to her feet. Gripping Mei Lin’s shoulders so hard it hurt, she drew her in. “I believe you,” she whispered, leaning in close. “I believe you, Jia Mei Lin.”


End file.
